Country Where the Sun Rises
by Bananas102
Summary: Japan bumps into this shy American girl, literally, in Japan, where she is completely out of place. Japan realizes she is very different than other people and tells her something that should never have been said.


Japan exhaled. It was a nice day. It was warm and sunny and everyone was out and about. He was happy to see his people together.

Suddenly someone crashed into him. The person gasped and he stumbled back in surprise.

It was a girl dressed in a light purple kimono. She was tan and had dark brown wavy hair. Her brown eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands in shock. "Oh! W-Watashiwa..wa moshiwakearimasen!"(I am so sorry!) She struggled to pronounce the words. Foreigner.

He gave her a polite smile. "Sore wa ki ni shite inai (It is no bother.)," he told her, since he wasn't sure where she was from. She stared a him blankly, then frowned.

"Uh..," she bit her lip, trying to come up with something to say. "Oh god, come on, you know this," she whispered to herself. He blinked, a little surprised actually. American. She looked more Hispanic.

"You're American?" She looked at him, then smiled, sighing in relief. "Yeah. I-I'm sorry, I know the words...," she said. Japan smiled. "It's okay. I'm Kiku." He bowed.

She blinked in surprise. "Oh! Sorry. I'm Selena." She bowed too, but to the point where Japan realized she was putting him above her in social status, which was actually quite flattering.

They both straightened. "I-I should g-go," she said nervously. She looked around in confusion. Japan observed her for a moment. "Where are you heading?" Selena glanced back at him. "I'm going to the Chinzan-so Garden." That also surprised Japan because tourists usually went to the palaces and temples.

"Would you like me to show you the location?" Selena's eyes widened slightly and she blushed, though Japan wasn't sure why. "I-I wouldn't want to impose on you." He cocked his head ever so slightly. "I have no plans for the day."

"Okay," she squeaked.

* * *

He led her inside. Any tourists who came here soon became bored from the patches of moss and the rocks. Few stayed long enough to get to the Japanese ruins.

But Selena completely lit up when she saw it. She gasped, looking at the trees and the plants. "It's so beautiful," she murmured. She tentively reached out to light touch a petal on a blossoming flower.

"Wow...this is so amazing. I'm surprised, I thought it would be more crowded."

Japan looked at her. "Not many tourists like to come here." She turned towards him, confused. "Why?"

"They find it bland." Her face scrunched up a little. "Bland? Idiots; they don't see the world around them." Japan was pretty sure the second part was for her ears only.

"You are not like other Americans," Japan said, after the silence became awkward. Selena drew back from the leaf she was looking closely at. "You mean because Americans are idiots?"

Japan flushed nervously, only to realize she was saying it in a joking way.

She giggled. "It is kind of true. The whole world believes us to be stupid. Don't get me wrong, America holds some pretty stupid people, but they're not the only kind who call America home."

Japan thought for a moment. "You look Hispanic."

She grinned. "I am. Well, half Hispanic, anyway. But my grandmother was German and her family came from loads of places." Japan smiled too, thinking of Germany and his tough demeanor. Selena didn't seem that way at all.

Then Japan frowned. "Are you here on your own?" Selena nodded. Japan gaped slightly. She couldn't be more than nineteen. "How old are you?" She replied, "Seventeen."

"But..on your own here? What about your parents?" She stiffened. Japan sensed the sore subject. "I apologize for prying." She gave him a small smile. "No bother. My friends love to pry all the time." They continued through the garden and Selena almost fainted from excitement when she saw the ruins.

"Oh my God! Remains from another time, another civilization!"

She blushed. "I know, I'm a dork."

Japan smiled.

They sat down on the bench which over looked the mountains. Selena closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the wind making her long hair flutter in the breeze. "I feel so connected to the world out in places like this," she said quietly. She slowly lifted her hands off the bench, but just put them in her lap. "Sometimes I feel like I could fly."

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Do you believe in the mythical?" Japan frowned, not quite understanding.

"The abnormal. Like people who can see the future, who can fly, goddesses, people who exist but are _special_ in ways other people don't know."

Japan swallowed hard, thinking about the nation personifications. He was silent for a long time before asking, "Do you?"

Selena sighed. "I do. I believe than anything is possible and that anything could be out there. I used to wish I was something special like that."

"Do you not anymore."

She laughed lightly. "I do. I really do. But I never have proof. No matter how much I look in the world, in myself, I can never find proof enough to believe."

Then she blinked, cheeks turning pink again. "I-I'm sorry. I'm not sure why I'm telling you this."

Japan observed her. He watched her gaze shift back to the scenery and her whole demeanor lit up and she seemed to absorb all of it. The setting sun was disappearing fast and she looked into it's glow.

Normally, Japan would tell her not to do that since it would hurt her eyes, but her eyes burned with something and the burning orange of the sun glowed in her eyes, gold flecks glittering in the light.

Then she looked away, blinking. Then she looked back and watched the sun vanish behind the green mountains.

"If I told you there was a personification for every country, would you believe it?"

She turned to face him, mouth agape slightly.

"I think so. How amazing and baffling that would be! Someone who holds, no, _is _the very essence of their nation." She breathed deeply again. "Oh, how wonderful that would be."

He blinked. "My name is not Kiku."

She watched him with her dark eyes.

"My name is Japan."

Her lips parted a fraction. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"T-The personifications-are you Japan?"

"Yes."

She stared at him, then smiled, then laughed. "My God! You-You are a rarity! A whole 'nother side of evolution!"

"All the countries have one."

"So? That makes you no less special."

* * *

Two days later, Selena boarded a plane back home and Japan waved to her as she walked down to the plane.

She arrived home and unpacked and just went to sleep because of the flight difference. But she had the strangest dream:

_"Japan? What are you doing here?" The quiet nation looked bewildered. "I-I do not know." They were standing in a white room. No doors, no windows, no nothing. Suddenly a doorway appeared and a older German woman came through wearing an embroidered purple sweater._

_Selena's eyes widened and immediately filled with tears. "Grandma?" The woman smiled. "Hi, sweetheart."_

_"I miss you," Selena whimpered. "I know. But it's okay. You two will meet again in the future. A greater event has been set in motion. By you."_

_Selena blinked. "Me?"_

_"You're purpose is very special indeed, and you were never meant to cross paths with him._

_The future will change. For better or worse: That will depend on you."_

_Everything faded._

Japan woke from the weirdest dream he ever had.


End file.
